History Main / SadBattleMusic

** ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'': Ren's final fight with [[spoiler:Desast in Episode 41 has the soft, somber insert song "Will save us" play through the tail end of their battle. It adds another layer of tragedy to the whole deal, as Desast was already living on borrowed time anyway, though in the end [[AGoodWayToDie he managed to die happy]] after not only receiving the fight of his life, but seeing his friendly rival Ren renew his resolve.]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Notice that during Kouta's first battle with an Inves the music is dark and grim rather than fast-passed and upbeat as the first fights in the previous Rider shows where. It gives you the sense that the fight ''should not'' be happening. [[spoiler: Episode 14 shows us why.]]

* The tragic final battle between [[spoiler:David and Adam Smasher]] in ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' is underscored by [[spoiler:"I Really Want To Stay At Your House", which had previously been used as the LoveTheme for David and Lucy, the woman he's seeking to save from Smasher]].

* The tragic final battle between [[spoiler:David and Adam Smasher]] in ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' is underscored by [[spoiler:"I Really Want To Stay At Your House."]]

* The final episode of ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder Goes Forth]]'' has a sad arrangement of the show's theme tune playing as Blackadder and his comrades advance towards the enemy, only to be cut down by machine gun fire. A drum is heard to bang a couple of times before the music stops and the scene cuts to a stock image of [[ThePoppy a field of poppies]].

!!Examples:

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Season 10, in the climactic episodes, York and Carolina, who have been the subject of some serious ShipTease over the course of the season, come to blows when York wants to stop Carolina from madly chasing after Tex. They fight in a Zero-G environment, and the music, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwmlOQ6z7SQ "Ballet Breakup"]], is appropriately somber.

** "Anakin's Betrayal" plays during the march on the Jedi Temple, courtesy of Order 66.

* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaTheMovie2ndAs'' has a brief scene of Reinforce attempting to cave Nanoha's face in with her bare hands while the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVhDEJNIRrE& Dear My Sister Dear My Memory]]" plays, though this has more to do with it being sandwiched between two scenes of Fate undergoing TheFinalTemptation than the tone of the fight itself.

* ''Manga/OutlawStar'': Episode 20 features a solemn harmonica track called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th2GuqIevXI "Breeze"]], which plays as [[spoiler: Jin unknowingly battles to the death with a girl he's fallen in love with]].

-->--'''A Website/{{Youtube}} commenter''', on ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}'s'' "[[https://youtu.be/pLAP2X16GP4 Minuit A Fond La Caisse]]"

Other works -- particularly, but not limited to, video games and anime -- apply this trope rather differently. Sad battle music isn't just limited to grand war sequences, but also can also be heard during more smaller-scale conflicts, usually duels between two characters. In this case, the normal pace of the fight is kept intact, likely to emphasize the brutality that may ensue along with the somber mood of the conflict. [[note]]Mostly as a practical way to avoid disrupting the flow of gameplay in video games.[[/note]] Battles that involve {{Tragic Villain}}s, [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]], {{Fallen Hero}}es, [[HeroAntagonist Heroic Antagonists]], and {{Tragic Monster}}s begging for a MercyKill are common situations where somber music can be fitting. If it's a no-holds-barred [[FightingYourFriend battle between allies]], one of which has turned [[FaceHeelTurn traitor]], [[SanitySlippage gone insane]], [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight brainwashed]] or [[StakingTheLovedOne infected]] yet still conscious, etc., sad battle music is also very likely be heard, as if to emphasize how tragic and conflicting it feels to watch the good guys cut each other down mercilessly due to circumstance, emotional turmoil, or conflicting goals -- especially if the fight is futile or unnecessary to carry out in the first place, or if [[PlayerPunch you're the one doing it]] -- as well as express how [[ItsPersonal personal]] it is for both combatants. If the opponent in question is a [[MentorOccupationalHazard mentor]], a [[KillTheOnesYouLove close friend, family, or a loved one]], you better brace yourself for a TearJerker, because this trope is guaranteed to happen.

* ''Series/GameofThrones'' uses [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1frgt0D_f4 ''The Night King'']] during the Battle of Winterfell, [[spoiler:when it appears that the Night King and the White Walkers are about to win.]]

Other works -- particularly, but not limited to, video games and anime -- apply this trope rather differently. Sad battle music isn't just limited to grand war sequences, but also can also be heard during more smaller-scale conflicts, usually duels between two characters. In this case, the normal pace of the fight is kept intact, likely to emphasize the brutality that may ensue along with the somber mood of the conflict. [[note]]Mostly as a practical way to avoid disrupting the flow of gameplay in video games.[[/note]] Battles that involve {{Tragic Villain}}s, [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]], {{Fallen Hero}}es, [[HeroAntagonist Heroic Antagonists]], and {{Tragic Monster}}s begging for a MercyKill are common situations where somber music can be fitting. If it's a no-holds-barred [[FightingYourFriend battle between allies]], one of which has turned [[FaceHeelTurn traitor]], [[SanitySlippage gone insane]], [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight brainwashed]] or [[StakingTheLovedOne infected]] yet [[AndIMustScream still conscious]], etc., sad battle music is also very likely be heard, as if to emphasize how tragic and conflicting it feels to watch the good guys cut each other down mercilessly due to circumstance, emotional turmoil, or conflicting goals -- especially if the fight is futile or unnecessary to carry out in the first place, or if [[PlayerPunch you're the one doing it]] -- as well as express how [[ItsPersonal personal]] it is for both combatants. If the opponent in question is a [[MentorOccupationalHazard mentor]], a [[KillTheOnesYouLove close friend, family, or a loved one]], you better brace yourself for a TearJerker, because this trope is guaranteed to happen.

* ''Fanfic/KingdomHeartsTheAntipode:'' An original composition, titled ''[[https://soundcloud.com/megaflamehedge/fracturedmirror Fractured Mirror]]'', was made for the FinalBattle of the second installment. A ''Lord of the Castle''-inspired number that is in equal parts climactic and emotional, it perfectly encapsulates the [[WhyCantIHateYou conflict]] between Riku and Riku Replica.

** ''[[https://soundcloud.com/megaflamehedge/gottafightmama?in=megaflamehedge/sets/inverted-fate-ost Fallen Crown]]'', Toriel’s boss theme, reflects perfectly the poor queen’s inner turmoil. WordOfGod stated that the song represents Toriel’s very complex emotional state.